Day 3: Somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean

Another ordinary day at sea? Hardly!

The sea churned, the white caps evident everywhere. Hundreds had positioned themselves on lounge chairs on Deck 14 to watch and see what would happen. By mid-morning, the sound of the waves crashing signaled the constant pummeling of the water along the sides. The crescendo was deafening and each wave pounded louder and higher. People were weaving back and forth as they attempted to navigate the deck in search of someplace dry, spray flying everywhere. Finally, it crested nearly four feet over the sides on Deck 14, inundating the bar and ice cream shop areas - and that was just in the Lido Pool!

While those passengers still in attendance scurried to protect…their books (seriously I don’t think I’ve ever traveled with a more literate group. Dona you should really apply to be a librarian aboard one of these cruise ships - or maybe we could open a bookstore here) others enjoyed the spectacle of the one lone swimmer in the pool vainly trying to complete a solitary lap without being carried on the next wave over the edge of the pool onto some unsuspecting…reader (no, really, of the 1900 passengers on board I think I counted over 1200 with a book in hand just on my way to lunch!) Certainly someone with my, shall we say, natural LACK of buoyancy would remain contained within the boundaries of the pool, however I’m sure that one good wave would have caused Jenny to sail over the sides of the pool where she would no doubt manage a perfect 10.0 landing on a nearby lounge chair and have her order taken by an ever vigilant crewmember!

Other than the wave action of the pool, the sea is relatively steady (4 - 7.5 ft. waves) so we are enjoying the ride. The temperature today is in the high seventies/low eighties with 100% humidity. That plus the salt water and wind is doing nice things to my hair (for a visual image…because nobody is actually capturing this look on film or electronics!…envision Isaac, the bartender, from the Love Boat and make him Irish…and extremely pale and you have some idea of the impression I’m making these days!)

Lunch was a fun affair - it was “English Pub Lunch” day. Gerry actually had “bangers & mash” and I enjoyed a “Ploughman’s Lunch” (ham, cheese, a crusty roll and pate - I didn’t know the Brits did pate but since I really do like liverwurst this was a treat for me!)

Then it was time for a dip in the pool and off to the Maitre d’ Wine Club (again this is backwards from other cruises - typically they whet your whistle with the ordinary wines and then “graduate” you to the Wine Club where you sample not only much, MUCH better wines but also pair them with food (oddly enough NOT the cruise’s best food choices) and they can charge you a bit more. This was a bit of a disappointment - I think the guys giving the presentation were still learning their “shtick” and it went on and on… Usually this is the event where they suggest which wine works well with a particular food type and give us a sampler of delicacies - something to try with each wine served. This time they just put the plates on the table and told us to eat whatever we wanted with whatever wine was being served at the time. No matter to me - I wasn't having any of it! (Seriously - there is NO wine that goes well with caviar. At least none that I would actually pay for...including Two Buck Chuck!)

We nearly missed out on Trivia with our “group” (Judy & Marv from Bend, Oregon and Mike and Kathy from Ottawa and occasionally Katie & John from Stockton). We did really well - a score of 19 - and still got beat by some veteran cruisers who no doubt have memorized every Trivial Pursuit card. On my “dream team” I would certainly enjoy having my sister (Dona), my niece (Beth) and friend (Tom W). I could open my own luggage tag shoppe!

Dinner was enjoyed with 4 other couples - all rabid golfers (we were the proverbial fish out of water here)! But curiously cheap. There is a beautiful golf course in Aruba tomorrow and instead they are opting to spend only $30 to play on the ship’s simulator. Once again I tell myself I will never understand golfers!

All in all though a leisurely day at sea!

• Terri’s Travel Tip: The surest way to become ill at sea is by touching things. Avoid all handrails and as much as possible doorknobs. If the weather is choppy, use the elevator (I’ve never actually seen one get stuck - I’ll let you know more about that today since that’s usually how the jinx works!). Avoid stairs during rough weather because you’ll recover much quicker from a horizontal fall than you will from a vertical one!

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